If you battled a COVID-19 infection early in the pandemic, it probably won’t protect you much from reinfection with Omicron and its subvariants, a new study warns. Even a previous infection with the original Omicron variant provides little protection against reinfection, researchers report. They said the findings from their study of more than 730 triple-vaccinated… read on > read on >
Researchers have figured out a way to safely give children a donor kidney without the need for immune-suppressing drugs — an advance they hope to expand to many more kidney transplant patients in coming years. Reporting in the June 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors at Stanford University describe the first… read on > read on >
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, has tested positive for COVID-19, the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced Wednesday. The 81-year-old director of NIAID tested positive on a rapid antigen test and has mild symptoms, the agency said in a statement. It said he is fully vaccinated and… read on > read on >
The COVID-19 pandemic changed kids’ lives in many respects, and sometimes for the better. Pot use, drinking, smoking and vaping all fell among U.S. youth, likely because they had to spend more time at home and less time with their friends, researchers say. The findings are based on an analysis of 49 studies. “One of… read on > read on >
An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Wednesday to recommend the emergency use of both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for the country’s youngest children. The approvals come not a moment too soon: More than two years into the pandemic, children younger than 5 still have no vaccine… read on > read on >
A centuries-old mystery as to the origins of the Black Death has been solved, according to an international team of scientists. They said the plague pandemic that killed up to 60% of people in Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa in the mid-1300s originated in central Asia in what is now Kyrgyzstan. Plague first… read on > read on >
At least 13 infant deaths have been reported in Fisher-Price’s Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers since 2009, while there has been one death reported with a Kids2 Bright Starts Rocker, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and both companies warned in new alerts issued Tuesday. Rockers should never be used for sleep, and infants… read on > read on >
An emergency committee of independent experts will meet next week to determine whether the growing monkeypox outbreak that’s spread to dozens of countries should be declared an international health emergency, the World Health Organization announced Tuesday. That’s the highest level of alert for viral outbreaks and doing so would mean that WHO views the normally… read on > read on >
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend the agency approve the emergency use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 6 to 17. Despite the unanimous support, some panel members worried that trials of the vaccine were conducted before the emergence of the Omicron variant. They noted… read on > read on >
Overall use of insulin pumps among U.S. youngsters with type 1 diabetes has climbed in recent decades, but those who are poor or from minority groups are less likely to have the devices, a new study finds. Insulin pumps, which do away with the need for numerous painful injections, have been shown to improve control… read on > read on >
